Martian Manhunter, Faceless
by DC3.14159265
Summary: A woman is murdered, and the cause of death links her to a serial killer from J'onn's past. Is there another Martian alive on Earth, or is something else trying to mess with the head of the Martian Manhunter? Sequel to Martian Manhunter: Earth Pi.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a sequel to Martian Manhunter Earth Pi, so it might be a good idea to read that first. All thanks to The Lady Isis for being my Beta on this one.**

In a town in the middle of the US the afternoon quiet is broken by the sound of gunfire, then a few minutes later three masked and armed men run out of a local bank, each carrying a black duffel bag filled with stolen cash. The three men pile into a car driven by a fourth masked man and take off with sirens incoming.

"You're gonna get us lost, man!" one of the crooks in the back seat shouts at the driver, who is taking a rather erratic driving patern.

"I'm following the King's instructions exactly, so just calm down," the driver answers.

"Did he say anything about what to do against that?" the other man in the back answers, pointing out the back window. The driver looks in his rear view window to see the Martian Manhunter flying after them.

"In fact, he did," the driver answers, putting his finger over a switch on the dashboard.

When the green alien superhero gets close and reaches for the speeding car, the man behind the wheel hits the switch which causes the entire vehicle to be covered in a coat of flames. J'onn pulls away quickly but his hand still catches fire, and he struggles to put it out as his prey speeds away.

"That's awesome! Burn, bastard!" the fleeing robbers shout in joy.

"What did I tell ya? The Getaway King thinks of everything," the driver tells them with a smile on his face.

"Um...he's back," one man says nervously in the passenger seat.

Everyone looks and sees a now much-angrier Martian chasing them down again. "This guy doesn't know when to give up does he?" one of the men in the back seat asks.

"The capes never do," the man next to him answers.

"Yeah, but that don't mean they can't be stopped," the driver says before hitting a button.

This one causes the trunk to open and two nozzles to point out. He then hits a switch next to the button and shoots a big gout of flame backwards at their pursuer. The men watch in shock and awe as the fire speeds backwards, and then once it's gone the superhero is nowhere to be seen.

"Did we get him?" the driver asks, weaving through traffic at high speeds.

"Don't see him," one bank robber answers.

"We must have!" another shouts happily.

As the criminals shout and laugh in victory, their car is lifted high into the air. The men look around scared for a second before the vehicle is flipped up virtically, so that the back half is pointed directly at the ground. Then through the windshield they see the Martian Manhunter's head peek up from over the front of their car and stare down at them with his red eyes.

"Turn off the flames," J'onn demands.

Smiling sheepishly the driver does as he's told. "Hey man, can we...talk about this?" he asks.

When the police finally get to them the car is upside down on the ground with several large holes in it, and all four of the men are sitting on top of it tied up in repurposed seat belts, the bags full of money are sitting between them, and the guns are crushed and strewn around the car.

As the cops get out and look over their quarry one says, "Gift-wrapped them for us. That was nice of him."

"Yeah," his partner agrees. "Looks like the Getaway King is going to have to change his name."

…

Later J'onn is back at the Erdel house putting ice on his hand. The door opens and Shelly walks in carrying bags of groceries. "Hey I'm back, guys, and don't worry I didn't forget the cookies," she says stepping in. Seeing J'onn she puts down the bags and hurries over to him. "You okay?" she asks, trying to get a good look at his wound.

"I'll be fine," he assures her. "Unfortunately it appears that the Getaway King knows of my weakness." He looks down at the grocery bags and says, "You said that you brought cookies?"

Shelly rolls her eyes, then retrieves the bag, opens it, and pops a cookie into J'onn's mouth as he cradles his hand and holds the ice pack to it. "So what happened exactly?"

_I stopped a group of bank robbers, though their car was fitted with various fire producing add-ons which I was not expecting, _J'onn telepathically communicates as his mouth is busy munching.

"Please don't talk with your mouth full, hon, its a bit creepy," Shelly tells him.

J'onn swallows and says, "Apologies."

The phone rings and Shelly answers it, she then hands it to J'onn saying, "Its your policewoman friend."

"Hello, Officer Callahan," he greets her.

"You should really invest in a cellphone, its a bit unprofessional to have your only phone number belong to your girlfriend's father," Callahan says.

"Shelly and I are not in a romantic relationship, officer, though your interest is not unappreciated. I would like to get a phone of my own but work has been a little scarce lately," he answers.

"Well, I can help with the work problem, I want your thoughts on something," she tells him.

"What's the case?" J'onn asks.

"Come see for yourself," she answers.

…

A few minutes later, J'onn is in his "John Jones" form and is walking down a dark alley after ducking under a piece of yellow crimescene tape. He sees Callahan standing over a dead body thats been marked by the forensics team.

"You need my help in a murder investigation, Officer?" he asks stepping closer.

"Its a weird one, so I'd appreciate your input. Oh, and it's 'Detective' now," she answers.

J'onn looks down at the victim and begins to analyze the body, speaking his thoughts out loud. "Woman, between twenty and twenty five, possibly of Latino decent, heavily muscular, dressed in what appear to be work out clothes, with signs of a struggle evident by her knuckles, and the bruises on her exposed arms and legs. Was she found face-down?" J'onn asks.

"Yeah, but its the face part that's interesting," she answers.

She puts on a pair of gloves, leads J'onn to the other side of the body, hands him a pen light, then hunches down and carefully moves the girl's head just enough so that her face is visible. Or so much that her face would be visible, because where the young woman should have eyes, a nose, and a mouth there is instead massive black scar. "Medical examiner says it looks like something was pressed into her face that was so hot it charred the flesh and bone and fused everything together into one flat black..." she lets the sentence hang as she carefully puts the poor girl's head back down.

"Death was quick," J'onn says.

"God I hope so," Callahan answers. Then she looks at J'onn. "That wasn't a question, was it?"

"No, I've seen this method of murder before," he answers.

"Where?" she asks.

"In Lar'fen'dival, on Mars," J'onn answers, "three hundred and forty years ago."

The detective blinks at that. "Well, I was wondering how long we were going to keep up that act," she says. "So the perp was an old friend of yours?"

"No, she was executed centuries ago. Whoever murdered this poor girl did it this way intentionally to leave me a message," he answers.

"So an old enemy is trying to screw with you?" she asks.

"I don't have any old enemies, or friends, or acquaintances. Every other Martian is dead, and has been dead for centuries," he explains.

Callahan looks down at the woman's body again and asks, "Do Martians have ghosts?"

…

Later J'onn goes back to the Erdel's house and finds the good doctor working in his laboratory again. "Oh, hello, J'onn, I've just been making a few tweaks," he answers standing up.

"Doctor, have you used this machine since you brought me here?" J'onn asks.

"No. I have so much data from your journey to look through I haven't tried using it again yet. Why?" he asks.

J'onn sits down, collects his thoughts, then tells Erdel about the murder. "What do you think?" he asks.

"I'm a scientist, not a detective...but it sounds like too much to be a coincidence," Dr. Erdel answers.

J'onn thinks it over for a bit then says, "After Ma'bel was executed her weapon was put into permanent storage in the Manhunter Archives. It should still be there. Can you send me back to Mars? I need to find out if someone took the weapon."

"I was only planning on using the transporter on beans J'onn, I don't think it's ready for use of living beings yet," he answers.

"I survived one trip through it already," J'onn says.

"Yes, but for all we know that could have been a one in a million chance, and if we tried it again you could be badly injured or killed," the doctor explains.

"I'm willing to take the chance," he tells him.

Under pressure from J'onn's intense stare Dr. Erdel recreates the teleportation experiment with the can of beans. When the can returns unharmed J'onn takes its place on the platform.

"How long do you need?" the doctor asks.

"It should only take me an hour," the Martian answers.

"Alright, I'll bring you back in one hour, and if you're not there then I'll try again an hour after that," Erdel tells him. "You know Shelly is going to kill me for this, right?"

"Then lets get this done before she has a chance to find out," he answers.

Erdel throws a few switches, there is a flash of darkness, and then J'onn is back home under a red sky. Once again J'onn stands alone in the middle of an empty city and he shudders at the memory of weeks spent burning the bodies of his dead people before he pushes the memory away and heads in the direction of the Archives.

The building that houses the Manhunter Archives is square, small, and only one story high, but it reaches almost a mile underground. J'onn walks up to the building to find the door open and the lights on inside. He floats in and sees footprints on dust and dirt on the floor and follows them to an elevator.

Once inside the lift he asks the computer, "Computer, what was the last floor this elevator was taken to?"

"Lobby," the computer answers.

"What was the last floor before that that this elevator was taken to?" J'onn asks, slightly frustrated by the stupid machine.

"43," the computer answers.

J'onn presses the button and swiftly goes to the selected floor. Once the door opens J'onn sees more footprints leading down the hall. J'onn floats over the footprints and follows them to a storage locker, the locker that was supposed to contain Ma'bel's weapon. The door to the locker was left open, and instead of the weapon inside there is instead a picture of a human woman. J'onn takes the picture, looks at it, then accesses a console on a nearby wall. "Computer, show me all the security footage for the last week," he orders.

In answer, the computer just shows him static.

…

An hour later, J'onn materializes back in Dr. Erdel's laboratory to find Shelly waiting there with a very angry look on her face. "Well, congratulations, you managed to do something incredibly stupid without killing yourself," she tells him. J'onn doesn't look at her though, he just stares down at the picture in his hand. "J'onn? J'onn are you alright?" she asks him concerned.

"J'onzz!" the doctor shouts, trying to get the Martian's attention.

J'onn looks up, looks at the both of them, then speeds out the door. He flies at great speed across the city and then phases through the a building's wall and into the apartment of Harriet Callahan.

"Jesus Christ!" the detective woman shouts from her computer chair in shocked surprise.

"I'm sorry, are you having a heart attack?" J'onn asks.

"No, but good try," Callahan answers, trying to catch her breath.

"I apologize, I'll knock next time. Did you identify the murder victim?" he asks.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah. Her name's Isabel del Toro, she was a professional martial artist and an up incoming ultimate fighter," she answers.

"Is this her?" J'onn asks, showing her the picture he found in the Archives.

Callahan looks at the picture quietly for a second before she hits a few keys on her keyboard and turns the monitor to show a picture of the same woman as J'onn's picture, and the name under the picture is Isabel del Toro.

"J'onn, where did you find this?" she asks.

"On Mars," he answers.

_TBC. Reviews are welcome and appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

**I'd like to thank those who were nice enough to review, and The Lady Isis for being nice enough to beta this chapter for me. Now on to chapter 2!**

J'onn floats high above the city, expanding his mind...reaching out with his telepathic senses. If there is another Martian in the city, even if they are hiding he'll still be able to tell they are here. He will sense that another one of his people lives. _Unless they're a White, _he thinks to himself. He stops himself from going down that line of thought. His brother was dead. He might not have watched the life leave his eyes, but he saw the building go up, felt the heat of the blast, and the centuries that followed would have brought him down from old age even if he survived J'onn's enraged attack. No, this is something else. He looks down and sees police cars speeding along, and a psychic probe reveals Callahan behind one of the wheels.

Seeing that she's alone, J'onn ghosts into her passenger seat and solidifies next to her. The car swerves slightly when the Detective sees him and she lets out a string of expletives before regaining control. "You seriously need to fucking stop doing that!" she shouts at him.

"My apologizes," J'onn tells her. "Has there been another victim?"

"Yeah they just found her in the sewer," Callahan tells him. "Put on your human suit, I don't want to explain why I have a Martian riding shotgun."

J'onn shits into his John Jones form and says, "I've found no evidence that another Martian is involved with these crimes."

"J'onn, whoever is doing this jumped planets in an attempt to fuck with you," Callahan tells him. "I think you know the guy."

"My race is long dead, Callahan, and their ghosts have been silent for a long time," he answers.

"Well have you ever faced an alien in your long history as a Martian superhero?" she asks.

"Yes. But I choose not to consider him a suspect," he answers.

"Why?" the Detective asks.

"One, I doubt he would use these methods to get to me, and two...I would rather not think of the implications if Apokolips has turned its gaze on Earth," J'onn tells her.

"Do I want to know?" she asks.

"No," he simply answers.

The last few minutes of the ride go by in silence until they stop in front of a crime scene around an open manhole cover. Callahan waves her badge and gets her and J'onn past, where they descend the latter to another closed crime scene in the sewer. Bright lights have been set up to illuminate the dark stone corridors in blinding white. Inside the brightened area lab techs work the scene, photographing and cataloging everything possible into evidence.

"Cause of death?" the Detective asks one of the more senior analysts.

"Same as the last girl, burned faceless," he answers.

"Do we have an ID?" J'onn asks.

"Yeah she had a wallet on her, the license belongs to a one Debra Lingston," the tech answers.

"Well muscled, short nails," Callahan observes, kneeling down next to the body.

"And defensive wounds," J'onn notices.

"Looks like we have a pattern," the Detective notes, standing up.

"And no clues about the identity of the killer," J'onn notes.

"Except that he knows you," she says.

…

His night quiet except for the discovery of the murder victim, J'onn flies frustrated back home. He is almost disappointed that no other criminals are out tonight, they would have provided a much-needed distraction. His mind continues to wonder back to the dark thought that his brother might have somehow survived that last encounter, but J'onn simply pushes those thoughts away. Mal'fic is dead, he has to believe that.

As he floats towards his destination the Martian hears a woman's scream coming from an alleyway not two miles away from the Erdel house. He quickly flies to the source and finds a woman lying face down on the ground. He lands next to her, kneels down, and lifts her enough to find that she is a victim from the same killer he's been investigating. What he also notices is that her wound doesn't radiate any heat, meaning that she was killed some time ago - meaning that she couldn't have let out the scream that lead him to her.

J'onn looks up to see a heavily cloaked figure lift his arm and shoot a metal net at him from a thrower on its left wrist. J'onn goes intangible before the net hits, but it still connects and binds around him. Before the Martian Manhunter can think of a way out of his bonds, the metal net begins shocking him. As J'onn struggles in pain against the tight metal strands, the cloaked figure pulls an alien gun and begins firing a line of burning flames at the ground in front of J'onn. As his enemy slowly approaches the line of flame slowly creeps its way towards the struggling hero.

Before the line of burning death can reach him, J'onn shape changes into a serpent and slips his bonds right before they slam shut around him. The cloaked figure begins firing the flame gun in short bursts, trying to catch the Martian's new lithe snake like form, but J'onn quickly goes intangible again and slips through the ground.

While underground J'onn reverts to his hero form and reaches out with his psychic senses to try and get a reading on his enemy, but his cloaked opponent is invisible to his mind's eye. Putting some distance between himself and where he believes his enemy stands, J'onn shifts into a terrifying multiarmed and sharped tooth form before flying up through the ground, solidifying, and belting out a monstrous roar! Only to find the alleyway empty of everything except the victim's body and scorch marks.

After looking around and finding no more evidence of his attacker, J'onn reverts back to his hero form and floats down to the ground. "I don't know who you are!" J'onn calls into the darkness around him. "But you have made a mistake by trying to get to me through those which I protect! I will make you pay for every life you have taken, Stranger! That is a promise!"

_TBC. Reviews are always welcomed and appreciated!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who posted a review and everyone who is following this story in general, and a big thank you to The-Lady-Isis for being the beta on this little work. Here is chapter 3!**

In the Erdel household J'onn is aggressively, helping his two friends pack an overnight bag. "Don't you think this is a little hasty?" Dr. Erdel asks as J'onn stuffs his socks into the bag.

"The trap was set for me within walking distance from your home," he calmly explains. "Until I deal with the Stranger I believe that this will be the safest course."

"This guy has you scared doesn't he?" Shelly asks him.

J'onn stops and looks at her. "He knows more about me then anyone still alive should," he explains.

"And you're sure he's not a Martian?" she asks.

"...yes," J'onn answers after a short moment of hesitation. "Even if one of my people could be alive, we had no teleportaion technology, and our space faring capabilities were in their infancy."

"So they would have no way to reach Earth," Dr. Erdel says, nodding his head.

"Alright. Well, you're the detective, any other theories?" Shelly asks.

J'onn thinks on that for a second as he slowly puts the socks into the bag. "The killer has studied me, that much is obvious," he finally answers. "He was even able to restrain me when I went insubstantial."

"How do you do that?" the Doctor asks.

"I somehow lower my density to a point that I can pass through normal matter," J'onn answers.

"That...doesn't make any sense," Dr. Erdel responds.

"Well the way it was explained to me was-" J'onn begins.

"Whatever, stay on topic," Shelly says. "Anything else?"

"Yes. The killer seems to be doing this for sport," he tells her.

"What?" both the humans ask him.

"The defensive wounds on his victims show that he fought instead of trapping or sneaking up on them. Also when I encountered the Stranger he had me trapped, but instead of moving in for the kill, he decided to toy with me," J'onn explains.

"That's just sick," Shelly says.

"Yes, but fortunately it gave me the chance I needed to escape, so it may be something I can exploit," J'onn tells her.

"Does that mean you have a plan?" Dr. Erdel asks.

"Not quite," he admits. "For now I plan on finding his next victim before they're killed, by flying above the city and using my psychic senses to detect people, or more accurately women, in distress."

"Will that work?" the Doctor asks.

"Possibly," J'onn says.

"Why do you think the Stranger is only attacking women?" Shelly asks.

"Because he has studied me," J'onn answers.

"Your family," Shelly says in understanding.

"Yes. So, you can understand that I would rather not lose anyone else I care about," he tells her.

"Alright, we'll spend a few days visiting Granny while you deal with this problem," Dr. Erdel agrees.

"Alright. But before we go, I got you something," Shelly says, pulling a small cellphone out of her purse. "Do you know what this is?"

"I understand the concept," J'onn tells her, flipping it open.

"Okay, so lets take a few minutes to go over..." Shelly starts.

J'onn looks at her and his eyes glow for a second before he says, "I now know as much about this phone as you do."

"That must be useful," the Doctor notices.

"It can be. Now both of you, off," J'onn says handing the now over stuffed bag to Dr. Erdel. "I have work to do, and you have some driving to start."

…

J'onn went on with his flight, reaching out with his senses to try and detect distress. Said venture did nothing but waste several hours, turn up several dead ends (though he did end up helping a few situations), and lead to one very bad headache. That slim idea turning up nothing, J'onn decided to try out his new device and call up his human partner.

"Hello?" Callahan asks into her phone.

"Hello, Detective," J'onn replies.

"You get a cell phone now?" she asks. "That's what I like about you, J'onn, you take my advice."

"I aim to please," he tells her flatly. "Have any luck on your side of the investigation?"

"Actually we got a small break today," Callahan tells him. "We found some evidence at our last victim's home to suggest that she was abducted from there."

"Hmm...that's interesting," J'onn says, mulling that over. "If that was the case, then it is possible that he abducted the other women the same way."

"We didn't find any signs of a struggle at the other victim's homes, but the last girl was an Army Ranger, so he just might not have been able to get the drop on her," the police detective theorizes.

"Certainly possible," J'onn agrees. "He would take them from their homes, put them in a wider, more open space, attack them, then after he's had enough fun he'd kill them."

"Yeah the Stranger sounds like a real sportsman," she says in disgust.

"Maybe I should take a look around those homes. I'm the killer's real target, maybe he left some sort of clue that he meant me to find," he suggests.

"Can't hurt," Callahan admits. "Alright, J'onn, come-" the police officer is cut off. What follows are the sounds of struggling, several gun shots, and finally Callahan yelling, "J'ONN!" once more before the line goes dead.

As soon as J'onn heard the gunshots he was already intangible and speeding across the city as fast as he can propel himself. In a few short minutes J'onn phases through the wall to her apartment, but alas finds himself standing alone. The Martian nearly bellows out in rage at this turn of events, but he chokes it down and forces himself into a calm state. Callahan doesn't need the help of a vengeful hero right now, she needs the Detective.

Now back to his senses, J'onn surveys the room. No sign of forced entry and barely any signs of a struggle. On the floor he sees Callahan's cellphone, still on and working. Looking around he sees two bullet holes, one in the wall and another in the couch. J'onn thinks back and remembers that he heard four shots, which implies that the other two hit her assailant.

Looking around J'onn cannot see any sign of a possible exit, a closer inspection shows that even the windows are locked. Given the speed the Stranger employed to escape him in their last encounter, J'onn is left to deduce that the hooded killer has some sort of teleportation device, only one far more advanced then Dr. Erdel's. If that is true, then it means that the killer and Callahan could be potentially _anywhere_.

When people begin gathering on the other side of the door and knocking, demanding entrance and an explanation for the gunshots, the Martian Manhunter decides to make his exit and phases though the wall back out into the night air. Once outside he flies high before stopping to hover above the city, push back his mental fatigue, and reach out with his mind once more.

Before he had been working scatter shot, simply looking in any direction for any sign of his prey. This time he has a target. If she is still within his range, J'onn will be able to find Callahan, conscious or not, and follow his mind's eye to her. So as he stands still high in the sky J'onn sweeps through every thinking soul below him, hoping against hope to find his friend's...he had once tried to describe to a White what it was like to recognize someone psychicly. He found it hard, because he couldn't directly match it to another sense, and in the end he told the White that it was somewhere between a feeling and smell, distinctive yet something from inside, though not necessarily from inside him.

After reaching in vain for what feels like forever, finally J'onn's mind brushes against something that seems to be Callahan. He tries to connect further but she is out, possibly drugged. Using that as a guide, J'onn returns to his ghost like state and plunges head first down through the ground.

The Martian hero phases through asphalt, subway, sewer, and just plain rock for miles until he comes to a man made complex of tunnels that seem older then the city itself. The walls of the tunnels are all cut by hand held picks of eras past, and dirt and dust litters the ground and the few ancient wooden supports visible. Several bits of debris have been littered about, everything from large crates to broken tvs, showing J'onn that the area has been prepared for his arrival.

Through the alien pink light that everything seems to be bathed in J'onn sees Callahan slumped in a metal chair, her hands bound behind her, and the area around the chair encased in iron bars that reach up and connect a few feet above her head. As J'onn steps forward he is not surprised to see the outer most layer of bars suddenly become sheathed in fire.

"Where are you, Stranger?" J'onn calls out.

A voice that sounds like it is echoing out of a deep well answers back, "Behind you, J'onn J'onzz."

J'onn turns to see that the cloaked figure of the killer is indeed standing behind him, the flame pistol in his hand yet pointed off to the side. "Who by H'ronmeer's burning halls are you?" J'onn asks, his rage starting to drip into his voice.

The Stranger pulls off his hooded cloak revealing himself to be an alien in dark purple armor that covers his chest and legs, and that many more weapons of various types hang from his belt (including the Martian murder weapon) and are latched to his back. The alien is powerfully built with large musculature that is covered in bright orange skin. He is built like a normal humanoid for the most part, but it is his head that is the most distinctive. No hair seems to grow from it at all, and two long pointed ears stick out on either side of it, but where most creatures would have a face there is instead a wide blank area where eyes, a nose, and a mouth should be.

How the bizarre creature can talk J'onn can't fathom, but after a moment it did speak again. "I am Chun Yull, Manhunter. When I heard that the last Kryptonian dwelled on this planet, I made haste to come and hunt him," the Faceless Hunter explains. "When I arrived I was surprised to learn that the Martian Hero, the one who defeated the King of Apokolips, also had made his home here. So I decided to get some practice - by taking your head before I went after my true prize."

"You're never going to face the Kryptonian, Chun Yull," J'onn tells him. "You are never going to harm another soul again."

The Faceless Hunter draws a long curved sword, its blade seemingly made out of the same metal as the net that Chun Yull used on J'onn before. As electricity cracks the air around its edge he points the weapon at the Martian Manhunter and says, "Come J'onzz, let me reunite you with your people."

And then, the battle begins.

_TBC! Reviews are always welcomed!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for everyone who has read and reviewed this one, and thanks for DaisyJane who Betaed and added the quest appearance at the end. Here's chapter 4!**

Quick as a viper strike the Martian Manhunter extends his arm forward in an elastic punch straight for the Faceless Hunter's head. Unfortunately for J'onn what he thought was his enemy is actually a holographic decoy, and when his fist goes through it the appendage is caught by a metal claw that shoots from the floor, and then a second later the device shoots up a thirty foot flame. J'onn quickly turns translucent and pulls back his hand, smothering the fire in the dirt.

As the alien hero winces in pain and looks over the damage, his opponent's voice is echoing off the tunnel walls saying, "You couldn't have thought it would be that easy."

J'onn sets a grim and determined look on his face before walking off into the hunter's maze.

"Why didn't you just come after me?" J'onn asks his enemy.

"You know why," the eerie voice answers back. "You are at your best when you can stay cold, collected. I need your blood to run hot!" And with that the pile of junk to the Martian's right falls away revealing a flame throwing turret that J'onn has just barely able to dodge out of the way.

"Your a sick creature Chun Yull, as sick as the murderer whose methods you copied," J'onn tells him. Then he moves around the turret and smashes it. "And your traps are of sub par quality."

J'onn then cries out in pain as the Nth metal sword pierces him through the back as the Faceless Hunter pounces on him. The orange skinned alien points his flame pistol at his prey's head and says, "Then I guess I should finish this hunt personally."

Before the villain can pull the trigger, J'onn spins around in a way only a shape-shifter could, grabbing Chun Yull's gun hand and forcing it away from his head so it fires off to the side. At the same time he morphs his body away from the blade, and grabs that arm and forces it away from himself. Now the two alien warriors are locked in an hostile embrace, as J'onn desperately pushes his enemy's weapons away with all his strength and Chun Yull puts in his best effort to win the struggle.

"You disappoint me Martian," the Faceless villain tells him. "I was expecting one of the heroes who brought low the mighty Yuga Khan, would be more of a challenge."

In response J'onn shape-shifts and another arm emerges from of his body, which he uses to reach around Chun Yull's body and grab a gun like weapon off of his back. He then presses the barrel's end to the orange man's side and pulls the trigger, ending the stalemate and throwing him several feet to his immediate left with a bright blast of energy.

"Was that more of what you were expecting?" the Martian Manhunter asks in a calm tone.

The villain tries to return fire with his pistol but J'onn destroys it with another blast, leaving his enemy no other choice but to run as the Martian flies into the air after him, raining down fire as he does. Chun Yull dodges several shots, fails to dodge several more, and finally manages to throw his Nth metal sword with surprisingly good aim straight at his pursuer's head.

J'onn just barely dodges the deadly blade, but when he turns back to his prey he finds the Faceless Hunter is gone. He looks about at the area he last saw the villain, trying to find whatever hiding space he crawled into, when a shot of energy from behind catches him in the back and drops him to the ground.

"Teleporter," J'onn grumbles with his face in the dirt, before rolling over and firing blindly in the direction the shot came from. Chun Yull, now armed with a weapon that closely resembles a sniper rifle, ducks away from the wild firing, before popping back up and firing a shot that destroys the Martian's weapon. Then he fires a third shot at the fallen green man, a shot that J'onn avoids by phasing into the ground.

Now, once again, the two are at a stalemate. While J'onn is both out of danger and out of sight as long as he is in the floor, Chun Yull's mind is impenetrable due to his immunity to the Martian's telepathic powers. Which means, while J'onn is safe while phasing through the floor, he can't tell where the Faceless Hunter stands and if he tries to return to the surface he might well be back in his enemy's sights. As the Martian Manhunter's mind races to figure out a solution to this deadly problem, he senses that his human friend has regained consciousness. He reaches out with his mind and touches hers saying, _Callahan, don't speak._

While at first surprised, she follows his instructions and asks, _What is going on?_

_You were taken as bait, _he explains. _Now I'm playing tag with a heavily armed alien psychopath._

_Great, how can I help? _The cop asks.

_I need to use your eyes, _J'onn answers. _What can you see?_

_I can see that I'm sitting, tied up, in a burning cage, _she tells him.

_I know that already, look around. Tell me if you can see a orange faceless man with pointy ears, _he answers.

_Should be easy to...I see him! _She practically shouts into his mind. _He's on top of a mound of junk, sweeping the area with a sci fi sniper rifle. From my position he's..._

_Just keep your eyes on him,_ he tells her.

Its a maneuver that J'onn has done before, but not for a few centuries, looking through another persons eyes, using what they see to extrapolate an enemy's position and phase through the ground bellow them. Its a tricky move to pull off, but if done correctly it is remarkably effective. As Chun Yull discovers when the Martian Manhunter ghosts through the ground under him with his lower half in the form of a long serpentine tail, which J'onn quickly wraps around the Faceless Hunter's body while he grabs his arms and pulls them out to the side.

The blank faced killer somehow emits a cry of pain as his enemy constricts around him. "Your hunt is over Chun Yull, submit," J'onn coldly tells him.

"My hunt is over when I have your h...ack!" The orange man's sentence is cut off as J'onn forms a spike of bone that pierces his back and erupts from his chest.

"Jesus Christ!" Callahan shouts in shock.

"Just returning a favor," J'onn tells her as he retracts the spike and unbinds himself from his captive, letting him fall, weak, to his knees. He then removes Chun Yull's weapons and a box shaped device with several buttons on it, before binding his arms with his gun belt and dragging him to Callahan's cage.

Once there J'onn looks at the device for a second before pointing it at the cage and hitting a button, which turns off the flames. That done he grabs hold of two of the bars, rips them off, then tosses them to the side before stepping inside and freeing Callahan.

"How do you know how to use that?" she asks, pointing to the device.

"Its Czarnian technology. I knew one once, and she shared her language with me," he answers.

"How many aliens have you met?" she asks.

"Not counting you and that scum over there?" J'onn asks, motioning to his prisoner who is doubled over in pain. "Quite a few. I was...summoned once to another world to help take on a tyrant. I met many different aliens on that adventure, I'll bore you with the tale sometime."

"Speaking of alien scum," the officer says, kneeling down to look at Chun Yull. "No blood...did you know that wouldn't kill him?"

"I was willing to risk it," the Martian answers.

"Your a fool for not finishing me off, J'onn," the Faceless prisoner painfully chokes out.

The victorious hero lifts him off the ground and stares into where his eyes should be. "So I should kill you, is that what you're saying?" he asks.

Callahan puts her hand on her partner's shoulder. "Calm down J'onn. On Earth superheroes never kill when they have the choice," she tells him.

J'onn drops him back to the ground. "Well then I don't know what we're going to do, I can't imagine any prison you have is secure enough to hold him."

"Actually we have people to handle guys like this," she tells him. "Get us to the surface, I'll make the call."

…

A few hours later and the two are standing next to the road on the outside of town with Chun Yull sitting between them, now quiet and more securely bound. "Who was this group you called?" J'onn asks.

"The Department of Metahuman Affairs," she answers. "They should be here soon." A few minutes later a sleek black car pulls up to them. "Speak of the devil."

"Oh come now," a tall woman says as she steps out of the passenger side door. "I'd like to think I'm far nicer then him."

She gives both Callahan and J'onn, who has returned to his human form, a winning smile. Her straight brown hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail and she is wearing aviator sunglasses with light brown tinted lenses. Her demeanor is calm and friendly.

"Not you Diana," Callahan says and smirks at the other woman who exits the driver's side of the car. "Etta on the other hand..."

"Bite me, Callahan," the irritated woman says. She is shorter that Diana, probably average height for a female, with short blond hair and her naturally pouty lips are in a tight grimace.

J'onn doesn't even have to try to read her thoughts. Her anger simply broadcasts them to him.

_I am supposed to be having dinner right now with my husband who finally has gotten a three day pass but no I have to pick up some alien freak show out to kill mankind. Why can't we have more nice aliens like Superman that want to help people. I haven't had sex in forever._

J'onn swallows hard so as not to laugh and immediately puts up a block so he is no longer privy to her thoughts. But he does get a sense from her that she is a good person even if she wants to be elsewhere.

Diana on the other hand laughs and says, "Etta play nice. You know Sarge has warned you about your attitude."

"You can bite me too," Etta says but there is a hint of a smile behind it. "So what is the story regarding our latest nut case. Jesus, is it me or is it completely creepy that he has no face."

Callahan roles her eyes as Chun Yull growls. "He seems to have class A metahuman strength and is a skilled fighter and has expertise in using various alien weaponry and tech. Other than that I have no idea," Harriet Callahan states.

"He is an alien hunter who likes to find difficult prey to bring down for the pure enjoyment of the kill," J'onn adds.

"Great another psychopathic meta serial killer. Just what we need," Etta growses.

Diana pulls out her phone and starts rapidly texting. "I'll send the details to our tech guys so that they can prepare the proper containment for our friend."

"What is going to happen to him," J'onn inquires and Diana looks up from her phone.

"I don't mean to be rude but who are you?" Diana asks. Her friendly demeanor seems to sharpen as she looks at him as if seeing more than a man in a suit.

"Oh sorry, this is John Jones, my associate. He is the one who actually brought down our ugly friend here," Callahan answers. "John this is Agent Diana Troy and that is Agent Etta Candy of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. We met a year ago when they came to investigate a metahuman who had pyrokenesis abilities and was burning down banks after he robbed them."

"The idiot didn't realize that just because he could start fires didn't mean he was immune to fire," Etta pipes in.

"He ended up catching his clothing on fire and nearly died," Callahan adds. "If it wasn't for Wonder Woman showing up and getting him to the hospital he would have died."

"Wonder Woman?" J'onn inquires.

"Another metahuman but one of the good guys," Callahan says to J'onn giving him a subtle wink.

"To answer your question," Agent Troy cuts in. "He will be taken to our main facility in Washington D.C. and questioned by our boss, Sarge Steel. Then he will probably have the psych team work with him to see if he can be rehabilitated."

"I doubt that will happen," J'onn says softly and again Agent Troy gives him a sharp look.

"Then I guess he will be spending time in Belle Reve," Etta states. "That's where all the metahuman criminals who can't see the errors of their ways are sent. Hopefully I won't get stuck on transport duty again."

"Is that safe? What if he or other criminals escape?" J'onn asks.

"Belle Reve is the most high tech security facility in the country. It is the best we can do," Diana states.

J'onn looks at her and tries to get a read on what she is really thinking but as he tries to read her thoughts a mental wall blocks him. Agent Troy gives him are hard stare and all traces of the genial agent are gone. And suddenly a telepathic message is sent to him.

_Who are you and what do you think you are doing?_

J'onn is momentarily stunned at someone else creating a telepathic link with him. He quickly recovers and responds.

_One of the good guys. I mean you no harm. You are more than a regular human?_

_Yes and so are you but I do sense that you are telling the truth about being on the side of good. We need to talk but not now as I have to transport this prisoner. I will contact you._

_Yes please do._ He sends her a mental image of his address.

She gives him a small smile before turning to Etta. "Well Mrs. Candy I know you want to get back as soon as possible. Let's get this guy out of here."

She quickly escorts Chun Yull to the car and places a collar around his neck and activates it. Chun Yull immediately becomes more docile as she closes the car door.

J'onn wants to ask her about the collar but refrains. He is sure it is some sort of power or aggression suspension device. Maybe this agency does have the facilities to contain the vile predator.

"Detective Callahan, congratulations on the promotion by the way, and Mr. Jones it has been a pleasure," Diana says as she shakes both of their hands. J'onn can feel the power in her shake and is further intrigued by the woman. The smile she gives him is genuine and somehow J'onn feels he has made another friend.

"Later," Etta says with a wave as she heads to the car. "It's been real but we got to go."

Both Harriet and Diana laugh as Diana explains, "Etta isn't always like this. She is just in a hurry."

"I understand," J'onn says with a smile, briefly recalling the wonders of seeing his wife after a mission, and Diana nods before she to gets in the car and they drive away.

Once the car is gone Callahan turns to J'onn, punches him in the shoulder, and says, "Looks like you made a new friend."

"Maybe," J'onn answers.

The two begin to walk back to their car when she looks over at him and ask, "Want to get a beer, partner?"

"Okay," J'onn answers. "Can we get some cookies too?"

_The End. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated!_


End file.
